Spirit of Fire
by Dawnfire21
Summary: Follow the adventures of Edward, the dragonborn, and how he fights against the Imperial legion, the thieves guild, and the Thalmor in order to return peace to Skyrim. This story does not follow the skyrim timeline. Major events still occur but some minor events might not happen in correct order.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

He heard the howls go up once again behind him. He would not stop running, no matter what. He listened to the crunching of the branches beneath his, he took a daring glance over his shoulder, his eyes skimming through the trees, yet there was no sight of the creatures that had chased him. He turned his head forward just in time to see the branch sweep him off his feet. He landed with a thud; face first, a twig making a small cut across his cheek. He rolled onto his back, only to see the large wolf coming after him, another two following not far behind. These three wolves would prove little challenge normally but not having any weapons the man knew his end was near. But he would not go down without a fight.

He scrambled to his feet grabbing a large branch that lay near him, spinning around and swinging it as hard as he could, as the wolf in the lead leapt forward its jaws wide open, the creature's fangs dripping with saliva. The branch hit the wolf hard, causing it to fall to the ground growling. The three creatures circled him, then one of the two wolfs that had followed behind, bounded headfirst towards him but also met the same large branch that the leader had faced. But as the man swung the branch with all his might, the wolf at his rear slashed his leg; he fell to the ground and rolled onto his back, breathing heavily as blood gushed from his wound. The wolf that was in the lead grabbed the branch with his mouth and swung it away. _I didn't think I would die like this, _the man had thought to himself.

He had fought in battles before and was no stranger to death. He had slain many men, beasts, creatures, and animal alike. He had been taught to swing a sword at the age of 12, fire a bow with amazing accuracy at 15, mastered his first flames spell when he was 19 and learnt how to find weakness's in enemies and use them to his advantage. As he looked back over his life he realised he regretted nothing, however his thoughts were interrupted as a wolf leapt forward for the first bite.

Then an arrow came streaking past and embedded itself, deep into the wolf's neck. The wolf fell to the ground motionless, the man and the two wolves froze in shock, wondering where the arrow had come from. Then another arrow flew from the bushes to the left of the man and sunk itself into the other wolf's stomach. The last wolf turned and ran, trying to escape from whatever killed his pack, but it was too late and another arrow had found its mark on the wolf's head. The man laid there in shock, unsure of what to do next. He felt himself slipping in and out of consciousness; he had lost too much blood. As he felt himself slipping away his vision blurred and a figure emerged from the bushes, and walked towards him, then he was staring into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2-Edward

Chapter 2- Edward

His eyes fluttered open and darted across his surroundings, he was already on edge after the nightmares he had seen that night, or however long he has been unconscious. He noticed his leg was bandaged and cleaned, same with the graze on his cheek. Multiple bottles of potions and ingredients laid around him in the small tent he was in. Picking one up, he studied it and discovered it was a health potion. Studying the others he noticed all of them were health potions. _I must have taken one hell of a beating, _he thought to himself. He decided to sit up and exit his small tent.

He crawled out of his tent and came out into a small campsite, a fire in the middle, a, horse tied to a tree, another slightly bigger tent, and a man sitting cross legged in front of the fire, roasting what seemed to be horker meat. They seemed to be camped on the edge of a forest. It was snowing and water was not too far away, most of it was frozen though. The man went and sat next to his rescuer. The two men observed each other for a moment before his saviour said, "What's your name, friend?" as he passed a small bowl of diced horker meat and a bottle of mead. He looked closely at this man, not sure whether to give away his trust so easily.

_But if he had wanted me dead he would have left me to the wolves, _he thought_. _ "Edward, may I ask of your name? You saved me after all." He was still unsure of this stranger and was yet to trust him. The man smiled and took a sip of his own mead and said, "Hadrik, I was just doing what was right, no man deserves to be mauled to death by wolves."

Hadrik was at least 6ft 2, short, black hair, kept neat and tidy, he was a nord, and had blue eyes. He had what looked to be a full set of steel armour on but was missing the helmet. A steel sword was strapped to his side, and an orcish bow swung around his back and a quiver of steel arrows with it.

Edward was 6ft 1 himself, also a nord and had his hair kept relatively neat at about the same length as Hadrik. He had brown eyes and a brownish type of hair, and he normally had a small beard, but Hadrik had cut it so short that there was almost nothing left. _I might keep it short, it is actually quite better_, he thought as he felt his chin. He had also had a set of steel armour and a steel sword but he had left that at his camp when the wolves attacked.

"I had a camp, in the forest you rescued me from, all my gear was there", acknowledging this, Hadrik nodded his head and pulled out a map of the area and unrolled it. "I found you here", as he pointed to spot on the map, "We are here, just on the outskirts, where do you think your camp is?"

"Around here was where I was camped, it wasn't much just a small tent and a fire", Hadrik stood and went into his tent and emerged a minute later with an iron sword. He passed it to Edward and said "Come on, we while head there now before it's dark, but I can't assure whether your stuff will still be there though, it's been a while since you fell unconscious", "How long was I out for?", "Around three days now."

They had been trudging through the forest for an hour when they arrived, only stopping once to study the map. The pair had come across a few plants on the way that some of which Hadrik knew he could make potions out of.

He had explained that he used to be a sellsword. After he had gained enough money he had bought a house in Whiterun. Hadrik had decided to join the Imperial Legion, long before the civil war was set in motion. He trained in archery and swordsmanship, but had a hobbit of alchemy off to the side.

He said he joined the Stormcloaks after the rebellion started as he hated the Aldmeri Dominion and felt that Ulfric was the true High King of Skyrim. "Ulfric is a true nord; he is strong, fierce and follows the old Nordic ways. The Imperials know nothing of such, what is your stance in the war?" Hadrik had said.

"I've been enrolled with the Stormcloaks since the day the rebellion started." Edward had said. Edward thought back to the Battle of Whiterun, and how many of his comrades had died in front of him. He had sworn that day to be there to see the end of the Imperials influence in Skyrim. He was one of Ulfric's right hand men, and was also a commanding officer in the Stormcloaks ranks, and everyone his rank and his importance. While Edward's memories had trailed off into deep thought, he had gathered his stuff and put on his armour. When he had stepped out of his tent a strange urge came over him to stop and stand where he was, and as he stopped, an arrow whistled past his face and into Hadrik's leg. Danger was near…..


	3. Chapter 3- Hadrik

Chapter 3- Hadrik

He had his back to Edward when the arrow had hit his leg. As he fell in pain, he reached for his bow, rolling to one side, dodging another arrow, and quickly standing as fast as he could. He saw Edward running towards a figure that had jumped from the bushes, sword swinging, but had met the end of Edward's sword.

_Nock, draw…loose, _he repeated this to himself as he fired each arrow into the bushes, in hope of finding the target that had put an arrow into his leg. He limped around dodging any arrows that flew from the bushes, doing his best to stay conscious. Edward was now facing two men who seemed to be wearing him down. One fell to the ground with an arrow from Hadrik's bow protruding from his neck, and the other got an arrow to the knee giving Edward a chance to finish him off. Edward ran into the bushes and out of Hadrik's sight. He was going to follow him until he was faced by another large brute that had come from the rear of the camp.

He drew his sword weighing up the newcomer, trying to find his weakness. The large man drew a greatsword from his back lunging forward swinging it to the left, but he was slow and that gave Hadrik the chance to dance to the man's right, putting him on his enemies' weak side. He jabbed his sword into a gap in the bandits armour, but his victory was short lived when the man swung his sword back, slicing a cut into Hadrik's arm. Leaping back in shock, Hadrik grabbed his arm deciding what to do. Making his decision, he leapt to the man's left, wincing as he landed oddly on his injured leg, making a quick slice at his oppositions leg than ducking under the blade which had come swinging at him in retaliation, and rolled to the man's right making another cut at the man's arm. This had weekend his opponent and gave him the chance to finish him and stick the blade through his eye slit. He stood and watched his opponent fall, slightly twitching until the last of his life force slipped away from him.

Edward emerged from the bushes pulling a man with him, his sword pressed to his throat. He threw him down on the ground in front of Hadrik. "This was the archer the put that arrow into your leg", Edward said, as Hadrik sheathed his own sword. "He wouldn't tell me any information; maybe you can try and force some out of him. I'm going to search these bodies for anything."

Edward turned and walked towards the nearest body and started searching him for anything that could tell the pair of the purpose of this attack. Hadrik glared at the archer before him, who slightly whimpered as he picked up a dagger from the big brutes body that laid just them. Hadrik walked around the man until he stood behind him, his back facing Hadrik. As he raised the dagger to make a slash at the man's back, the archer started whimpered again and stuttered, "No! P-please Ill t-t-tell you anything you wa-want."

Hadrik lowered the dagger, sternly telling the man to tell him everything he knew. Seeing Hadrik lower the dagger gave the archer a bit more hope, and he spoke more clearly, but just as scared as before, "I don't know that much. We we're hired by a bunch of hooded elves. They sounded like High Elves but they said they would pay handsomely. We are only sellswords trying to get some money."

"Where were you when these elves hired you?"

"Morthal, they approached us in the inn, about 4 of them."

"And what exactly did they tell you to do?"

"They told us to come to this spot, and that a man would be here or would arrive here, and that we had to kill him, and bring them his head as proof. But when we saw two of you we were unsure and decided to wait. Then we were going to kill you while the other one was in the tent, and then kill him when he came out, but then he stepped out and ruined everything. Now are you going to let me go? I've told you everything I...ugh….told…."

Hadrik withdrew the dagger from the man's neck, wiping it clean on the man's sleeve. Edward approached him, carrying a few coin purses and a potion. "Did he tell you anything, because I couldn't find anything on the bodies?", Hadrik looked up from his dagger to Edward and told him what he was told, "He said they were sellswords hired by four elves in the inn at Morthal, it almost sounds like the Thalmor."

"Well then Morthal is where we are heading."

**Thanks everyone who is reading! I'm enjoying writing this so much. Please review so I know that people are actually reading this and tell me what you think. I'll take any advice I can get so please REVIEW! Okay hope you guys enjoyed this story so far. Chapter 4 is going to be ready soon!**


	4. Chapter 4- Ayla

Chapter 4- Ayla

Ayla crept through the front gates with ease, not being spotted once. Slipping behind the sleeping legionnaire that sat inside the courtyard she made her way up to the battlements. _1..2..3..4..5 _she counted the men patrolling the battlements and, choosing the right time, spun around the corner and slit two legionnaires throats. A small shriek of terror left one of the men's throats but was unable to be heard over the loud whistling of the snow and rain. After another 3 dead legionnaires laid at her feet she dropped down from the battlements and slit the sleeping guards throat for good measure.

Sheathing her dagger and pulling her hood up even further over her head, Ayla made her way to the wooden door that lead into this small fort. Pressing her ear up against the door lightly informed her of another soldier standing watch inside. Swinging the door open hard enough to knock him off his feet, she charged in taking advantage of the surprise attack and covered the man's mouth as her dagger implanted itself into his gut. She eased him to the ground and crept further into the fort, listening for any voices but all she could here was the pitter patter of mice running through the walls and the soft creaking of the wood underneath her feet. The silence making her uneasy she slowly crept forward towards the command room.

_It is easy. You go in grab the plans and any useful information and then you get out. Simple, _she thought to herself as she slowly opened the door, unsheathing her dagger. She was almost offended when she was given the mission from her commander at the Thalmor Embassy. Her, Ayla, given a simple mission like this when she was one of the best Thalmor agents in Skyrim. She had scoffed at the thought of herself going on such a simple mission. But her commander had assured her that there would be much blood to be spilt and that this was one of the most important missions that the embassy would ever be given.

Yet here she was, standing in front of a table where everything she had come for was laid out ready for the taking. Only 6 men died on the way in. This was nothing more than a simple mission. She had been fooled into believing that it was of major importance when all along it was only to collect a little bit of information. _Information, _she thought. Looking down at the scrolls and plans laid out in front of her, she reached down and picked one up to have a quick glance. Her eyes widened as she read the scribbled down writing in front of her.

_Crack!_ Her head jerked up as she heard the sound outside the door. Panicking she shoved everything on the table into a small burlap bag and rushed to the door. Stopping to ready her dagger, she reached for the door only for it to swing open from the other side. In front of her stood at large imperial, a grin spread across his face.

The last thing Ayla saw was his fist coming for her face…

**Hi guys! I know this paragraph is soooo short but I just wanted to start introducing the new characters. I know I didn't give much of a description of Ayla, well I didn't really give any description but I assure you it will be in her next chapter. I want to say thanks to Nathan for pointing out a few mistakes I made in the last few chapters. Hope you enjoy this one buddy! Okay guys, but anyway I hope you guys are liking the story so far. Anyway let me know what you think. REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5- Edward

**Hi guys. Just a few things to clear up. Hadrik is not the same Hadrik that wrote a poem or story or whatever in Skyrim about the Thalmor. I was unaware that there even was a Hadrik in Skyrim until recently. That was why I named him Hadrik, because of his unique name and also because I believed that there was no such name in use by Bethesda in Skyrim. I repeat, Hadrik is not the same as the in-game Hadrik used by Bethesda. But onto happier matters! Here is chapter 5! Enjoy! Oh and by the way Edward is unaware that he is the dragonborn! Yes that is right, he still hasn't realised his power!**

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Chapter 5- Edward

The trek to Morthal was a long one. Hadrik's leg wound had slowed them down quite a bit. He had said he used all his health potions on Edward and couldn't find enough ingredients out in the thick snow of the Pale. Those that they did find were only good for poisons and other useless potions. The journey had taken 3 days, 5 bread rolls, 7 apples, 15 bottles of mead and 2 wheels of cheese. The pair had ran into a trading caravan on the way, their small amount of septims dropping in about 30 in order to refill their own stocks for the rest of the journey. When they arrived in Morthal, a medium sized building, with a sign saying 'The Moorside Inn' wasn't hard to miss.

"….17, 18, 19 and 20", Edward said as he finished counting and placed the septims on the counter of the Moorside inn.

A Redguard by the name of Jonna stood behind the counter and looked from the septims before her to Edward, bluntly saying, "Over there to the right, your friend is in the room next door, if you're not out by 10am tomorrow, I'll get the guards to force you out."

Frowning at the rudeness of the Redguard, he walked into his room closing the door after Hadrik followed him. "I don't think we will be getting any information from her", Hadrik said as he slouched into a chair beside a fireplace.

"Indeed, we could try the bard? He might be able to recall something if a few extra septims appeared in his pocket, but if he doesn't know anything we will just have to hope some locals saw these Thalmor."

"Edward, you know how low we are on gold at the moment, we can't really afford for a few septims to _disappear _out of _our_ pocket. I still think we should use what we have left to buy enough supplies to get us to Whiterun. I have my house there. We could use the septims and supplies I have at my house to get us to Windhelm! Think about it at least! We could get horses in Windhelm from Ulfric, as well as better armour and weapons. Then we can find out what these Thalmor scum want."

While Hadrik was talking, Edward had moved himself onto his bed and tucked his hands behind his head. "I don't think we have any other option at the moment. We have to at least try to see if we can gather any information from these people about the Thalmor. Then we will try our luck with trying to get Ulfric's support on our investigation into the Thalmor attack."

He saw Hadrik shake his head. "I know who you are Edward. Everyone in the Stormcloak ranks knows of you. You're Ulfric's right hand man apart from Galmar Stone-Fist. He would support you with anything. I'm no fool. "

"So you found me out hey? I thought it would have taken you a bit longer." Edward said as he chuckled. "Well we only have a few hours until the sun sets so I'm going to go talk to the Jarl about those Thalmor. Don't worry; as far as the Jarl will be concerned I am just a noble passing through, inquiring why I was attacked by Thalmor on the road", Edward said as he saw Hadrik's worried face expression. Edward was fully aware that the Imperial Legion was under control of Morthal. It was a big enough risk just being here in the first place.

Edward left the room before Hadrik could argue, swiftly making his way past the few drunkards that occupied the main area of the inn at this time of the day. He leisurely walked the rest of the way to the Jarls longhouse, courteously nodding his head at those who he passed. Two city guards stood at the entrance of his destination, eyeing him off suspiciously as he entered. Idgrod Ravencrone was the Jarl of Morthal. She was a wise woman but had sided with the Empire when the civil war started. Morthal being the small capital of Hjaalmarch didn't have much to offer the Empire except for the ores from Rockwallow mine, to be used for crafting weaponry, armour and siege weapons.

Edward took note of his surroundings as he slowly made his way towards the Jarl. Her housecarl and two legionaries stood beside her throne, and a few other legionaries were scattered around the main hall.

As he got closer and closer to the Jarl, Gorm her housecarl, stepped forward and commanded, "Halt, what business do you have with Jarl of Hjaalmarch?"

"I only wish to inquire about an attack on me and my companion on our travels here."

"And what makes you think that the Jarl would have any knowledge of this attack?" Gorm said with a slight snarl.

"Well these attackers were hired by some noticeable people who were in this city", Edward retorted. _Wait,_ something had caught his attention from the corner of his eye, a sudden movement by someone. But who?

Gorm tensed as he glanced in the direction where the sudden movement came from. "What was your name again?"

"I didn't say."

Gorm looked questioningly down at Idgrod, who gave a slight nod to him. Turning his attention back towards Edward he asked a bit too fiercely, "Would you be kind enough to inform us of your name and title?"

Edward tensed up, shifting his hand to the hilt of his sword, under his cloak. "I'm afraid I can't."

Gorm stood still taking in what he just heard. Then he suddenly gave a nod to someone standing to the left of Edward.

And then the sounds of swords leaving their sheathes filled the room…

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**Mowhahahah! I just love leaving you guys on the edge of your seats, don't I? Hahahaha. Hope you guys enjoyed and please remember to REVIEW! Chapter 6 should be up soon. I've got like a ton of spare time on the weekends for writing so I get at least two chapters done a weekend. Anyway, see you guys soon.**


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